Vladimir Putin: deadlier than Chuck Norris?

Adding one more weapon to the Russian arsenal, President Vladimir Putin now holds the highest rank in Taekwondo — despite not practicing the sport.

As a new ninth-degree blackbelt and honorary Taekwondo grand master, Putin officially outstrips the eighth-degree ranking of the legendary Chuck Norris. Putin was given the Taekwondo belt and diploma by the head of the World Taekwondo Federation, Choue Chung-won, on an official visit to South Korea.

Although Putin isn’t an active Taekwondo practitioner, he has participated in judo since his youth, when he won a judo championship in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Putin even has an instructional video on YouTube called “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin.”